


paragon

by raffinit



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: F/F, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-24
Updated: 2018-07-24
Packaged: 2019-06-15 11:22:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,411
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15411798
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/raffinit/pseuds/raffinit
Summary: White gives Pink her Pearl.





	paragon

**Author's Note:**

> First dabble into this fandom, so don't expect much from this wild mess. I've been hopped on this idea since White Pearl showed up so I thought I'd give it a try. This is BD/YD if you squint slightly. I'm gonna write more about Big Angry Moms soon if this goes well.

The council chambers of the Great Diamond Authority is quiet for once. Without the overwhelmingly resplendent presence of White; without the juvenile bursts of defiance from Pink, the universe is still. Yellow sits unfurled from her usual rigidness, posture impeccable still as she leans back against the throne-like seat. Blue folds herself down across from Yellow, languorous as they skim their respective datapads.

Their Pearls perch on the armrest of Blue’s seat, engaged in some form of Xs and Os on Blue Pearl’s datapad.

“Isn’t it your turn to watch over that little troublemaker?” Yellow hums, glancing sidelong at Blue.

Blue tsks, giving her a look. “She’s not a troublemaker; she’s just young,” she chides. “She learns by example, Yellow — what kind of example are we setting if we coddle her all the time?”

Yellow scowls, turning her attention back to the hovering screen in front of her. “ _You_ coddle her,” she retorts, jabbing at a number of keys. “ _I_ just don’t think she’s ready for her own colony — especially not one from _this_ galaxy,” she mumbles, glaring hard at the screen.

“It would be a difficult galaxy to start with,” Blue concedes, staring at her screen thoughtfully. Dead red giants and barren moons? It takes great effort to grow gems in Kindergartens like those. Even for a Diamond like Yellow. She adjusts a number of panels together, twisting one towards Yellow. “What about this one? The reports say it’s bountiful — surprisingly so, in fact. Lush flora, a stable land, a vast body of water. She’ll have no trouble starting her Kindergartens there.”

Peering closely at the report, Yellow gives a little sniff. “With organic life crawling all over it,” she says, pointing at the paragraph highlighted in green. “All those resources and still so primitive. Scales and teeth; even the bipedal ones don’t even have _real_ arms,” she sneers.

“She already has a Pearl,” Blue reminds her. “What good will having a Pearl be if she doesn’t have duties?”

Yellow scowls. “I still think White shouldn’t have given her the thing yet,” she grumbles. As much as Blue coddles Pink, White absolutely _spoils_ the Diamond rotten. It’s a relief that White hasn’t made it a habit of ‘visiting’ quite so much, now that Pink was a little older.

Blue rolls her eyes at Yellow in a slow blink. “She has to start somewhere, dear.” The endearment slips from her without thought — only when they’re alone. Never in front of White, _never_ — and Blue hides a flush of colour behind her curtain of hair.

Yellow pauses, eyes widening minutely as she regards Blue. It’s only a fraction of a moment, an instant, before she looks away. A rush of colour darkens her cheeks as well, and it only darkens further when she hears Blue giggle from across her.

She turns her head away quickly. “Perhaps in another millennium. She needs time to grow, and this... _Earth_ needs time to grow. I’ll have my Peridots check the status on the planet,” she murmurs. “I’ll send a team down first just to be sure these organics aren’t... _advanced_ enough to pose a threat.”

“How wonderful,” Blue whispers, and Yellow chances a look. From behind her silvery hair, she can see Blue smiling. “Pink will be so excited.”

Yellow sighs slowly. A wave of her hand dissipates the screen in front of her. “Let’s just hope I don’t regret this,” she says, but Blue’s positively glowing from across her, eyes sparkling in iridescent shades of blue. Unable to help the fond smile pulling at her lips, Yellow allows herself a crooked little smile as she pushes upright, reaching one hand across the table to help Blue.

“C’mon.” Blue slips her hand into Yellow’s cool and smooth against hardness and warmth. Tightening her hold, Yellow guides Blue around the table, pressing in close to the shorter Diamond. “We should find her.”

Blue leans into her hold readily, nestling her head beside the gleam of Yellow’s gem. So close, her aura reaches outwards, seeking; fluid and cool like the endless universe around them. Yellow meets her calmly, electric fire that blazes green between them. “Thank you for indulging her,” Blue thrums, lilting and soft. “Thank you for indulging _me_.”

Yellow huffs, a gloved hand reaching down to twine with Blue’s against their hips. “You make me sound like a tyrant,” she grumbles venomlessly, smiling again when Blue giggles.

“ _My_ tyrant,” Blue amends, slipping her arms around Yellow’s narrow waist. She tilts her head up, hooded eyes catching at the curve of Yellow’s lips, a smile in her wisping words. “My soft-gemmed, magnificent Diamond.”

Yellow tilts her head down to look at Blue, revelling in the softness of her robe, shimmering like midnight and timeless space. Their lips are so close that Yellow can taste her words. “We should find her before —”

The council doors burst open. “ _Blue_!”

They startle apart, Blue pulling away quickly as Yellow drops her hands to her sides.  Their Pearls flutter about anxiously, bowing their heads and forming a salute as soon as they catch sight of the Diamond.

“Pink!” Blue immediately drops to her knees, coaxing the wailing Diamond close. She envelopes the smaller Diamond in her arms, crooning worriedly as Pink sobs into her shoulder.

“What is it, sweetling? Why are you crying?” she asks, smoothing down Pink’s brilliant puff of hair.

Pink sniffles, cheeks stained with crystallised tears as she reveals something clutched in her hand. “It was an accident,” she sobs, unclenching her fingers to reveal a Pearl gem. “I just said — and then she just —”

“Oh, Pink,” Blue says, relief flooding through the room. Yellows comes to crouch by her side, peering over her shoulder curiously as Blue gently pries the gem from Pink’s hands. “Darling, it’s alright. She’ll be good as new in a little while,” she promises.

The Pearls gather at her side, shifting warily as they eye the gem in Blue Diamond’s hands. “Shall I escort her to the regeneration chambers, My Diamond?” Blue Pearl whispers.

Yellow frowns deeply and reaches into Blue’s palm, turning over the gem and inspecting it closer. Her lips press together in a thin line. “She’s cracked,” she says flatly.

Pink’s eyes go wide, building with enough tears to put Blue to shame. “W-what?” She hiccups, and more tears drip down her face.

“You should have been more careful,” Yellow murmurs, plucking the Pearl up between her fingers and inspecting it in the light. She sighs, glancing down at Pink in disappointment. “Honestly, Pink, you’ve barely had the thing for —”

“Yellow,” Blue hisses, eyes darting pointedly at the devastated look on Pink’s face. She snatches the gem back.

Cupping the gem in her hand, Blue traces a finger over the fine, hairline crack spreading across the edge of the Pearl. She gives Yellow a mild look before turning to the Pearls. “Away with you two,” she tells them. “We need a moment with Pink.”

The Pearls salute and bow accordingly, scurrying off as Pink dissolves into another bout of tears. “I didn’t _mean to_ !” Pink shouts, a rising bout of indignation and anger watering down her grief. “You always act like I do these things on purpose — I’m not some Quartz soldier, I’m a _Diamond_ too, y’know!”

A retort curls her lips into a snarl, teeth bared and ready to spit back at Pink about Diamonds and their perfection, but she swallows it down. Sighing harshly, Yellow pinches the bridge of her nose, harnessing her strength into ignoring whatever else Pink yelling at her.

“—because I don’t have a colony yet doesn’t make me any less of one! I’m just as important!”

“Pink,” Blue soothes her, reaching to grasp Pink’s arm gently. “Calm yourself, it’s just a Pearl —”

Pink yanks her arm out of Blue’s grip roughly, jolting the larger Diamond enough for Blue to gasp. “You’re just as bad as her!” she snaps, glaring at them both.

Yellow’s eyes flash, and her aura bursts through the room in an electric wave. “That’s enough!” she snarls, pulling Blue to her feet. “I’ve had enough of your tantrums, Pink! If you want us to treat you like a Diamond, then it’s high time you acted like one!”

Pink flushes indignantly, mouth open to shout another protest, but the room is enveloped in a blinding light. A low humming consumes the space of the room, a vacuum of light and sound that makes Yellow move instinctively closer to Blue and Pink, shielding them behind her slightly as the cacophony dies down into a low thrum.

The light clears, and Yellow stiffens.

She forces herself to straighten, thrusting her chin out at the luminous being outlined in a prism of colour. “White.” The name grits out like steel on marble.

“Now, just _what_ is all this noise about?” The ethereal, musical chime of her voices is almost playful. White Diamond emerges from the halo of light, eyes bright and gem brighter, but her smile sharper. “Don’t tell me you’re making my little Starlight cry again, are you, Yellow?”

Yellow’s upper lip twitches, and she grips her hand into a fist. “Of course not,” she replies curtly. She watches White glide towards them, fighting every urge in her being to reach out a hand and block her way to Blue and Pink.

She smiles down serenely at Blue and Pink, bending low to loom over them both. Blue lowers her head, whispering her words of reverence as Pink shelters slightly behind her dress.

White laughs; a hundred stars dancing in the sky. “Oh, don’t be shy, my Pink! Come here and tell me what’s bothering you.”

“A minor mishap,” Yellow supplies from the corner of her mouth. “Nothing to concern yourself with.”

White laughs again, this time a short, dismissive little chuckle. “I’ll be the judge of that.” She reaches one long, slender hand towards Pink, talon-like fingers curling and uncurling enticingly.

Hesitantly, Pink emerges from behind Blue, curtseying before reaching up to take White’s hand. “I... _poofed_ my Pearl by accident,” she says quietly. Yellow watches from the edges, unease climbing up her spine at the way Pink’s entire hand can grip a single taloned edge of White’s finger. “She’s...cracked.”

Blue opens her hand slowly, revealing the gem. “We were going to attend to the matter,” she whispers, blinking rapidly to fight the urge to wince when White reaches her fingers into Blue’s palm.

White gives a low croon of sympathy, lilting and melodic. To Pink, it's warm and empathetic; a charmed Elder. Behind her, Yellow and Blue share a worried look. "Oh dear, look at that. Your little Pearl's broken now."

“It was an accident,” Pink says, as meek as Yellow has ever seen her. “I didn’t mean to.”

“Of course you didn’t, my Starlight,” White coos at her, wiping Pink’s cheek with the back of a knuckle. “Sometimes we make _errors_ in our judgement, don’t we?” Her pale eyes flit to Blue and Yellow briefly.

She reaches down to touch the Pearl's crack, unmoved by the way Yellow hovers protectively around them. White tuts. "No, no. This will never do."

Yellow clears her throat, fists clenched tight at her sides. "Pink needs to learn to control that temper of hers. She can't just go around stomping her feet and flailing her fists —"

Faster than she'd thought possible, Blue's hand reaches out, spanning slender fingers around her wrist. Yellow bites back at gasp when Blue squeezes down hard. Her jaw clicks shut, and she eyes Blue warily through narrowed slits.

"I believe what Yellow means to say," Blue begins, as soft and serene as ever. Yellow knows better; she knows the barest warble in her voice, the slightly heavier drag of her vowels. The fear. "Is that Pink might take this as a lesson. It won't do to trouble you over something so... _petty_."

White turns to them, a frightening look of glassiness in her eyes that belies a deeper understanding than they could comprehend. She gives them a glancing look, a polite smile of acknowledgement and dismissal and sets Yellow's spine rigid. She looks back down at the still-sniffling Pink fondly.

“Do you want a new Pearl, my Starlight?” she coos.

Pink bites her lip, glancing from Blue to Yellow.  She looks down at the cracked gem in White’s palm, at the sheer irrelevance of something so _small_ was in the hands of something so large. Someday, she might be someone like White. Perhaps.

Setting her jaw, Pink looks up into White’s alabaster eyes. “Yes.”

White’s face glows into a complacent smile. “Of course you do. A Diamond deserves nothing less than the _perfect_ Pearl.” The cracked gem in her hand is swallowed by a pearlescent bubble, floating between them as White waves her hand, and another bubble joins them.

“Blue was right,” White hums, drawing the new bubble closer to them. “I _do_ want this to be a lesson for you, Pink.” The bubble glows radiantly, illuminating the silhouette of a dormant figure within.

“All life is precious, my Starlight. From the simplest Pearl to the largest Diamond. Do not waste such a gift.”

Pink stares at the bubble in amazement. “Is she healed?” She reaches out a hand to touch the bubble, but when it pops, the hovering figure inside is —

Different. Ivory-skinned where Pink’s Pearl was pastel pink, blue-eyed instead of pink. The Pearl opens her eyes, blinking slowly before bowing low. Unlike the rest of the Pearls, this one wears the colours of all four. White smiles at her warmly, gently urging the Pearl forward as she salutes Pink reverently. “Take mine, Starlight. She’s _very_ talented. She’ll keep you company just fine.”

“It is an honour, My Diamond,” Pink’s new Pearl says, her gem gleaming from her forehead. “I hope to serve you well.”

Yellow purses her lips, glaring at White as the glowing Diamond straightens to her full height. “You can’t just keep replacing her broken gems like toys every time she breaks them.”

“I won’t,” White replies airily, eyes narrowing in a smile at Pink. “You’ll remember this lesson well, won’t you, Starlight?”

Pink nods readily, holding her new Pearl carefully in the palms of her hands. Her diamond-shaped irises sparkle with youthful wonder until she looks up at White again. “What about —”

White pulls the remaining bubble to her, balancing it delicately on the edge of a finger. “Oh, don't worry about your Pearl, dear. I have _just_ the use for her.”


End file.
